Page 84 of Hypnotized By Love

The girl he’d mentioned in our session. “I’m sorry. That sucks.”

“It does.” He nodded, and then I felt a bit guilty that I had this information. That he had intended to share this part of himself with my sister and not with me. He might not have wanted me to know, but now I did.

Since he was sharing with me, maybe this was the time to say something. To tell him about why “Savannah” was mad and get his reaction. He claimed not to know why I was upset, and given that his poker face was truly terrible, that seemed at least a little bit true. Maybe he didn’t understand how bad what he had done was.

But then he leaned back and stretched his arms, giving me a brief glimpse of his taut stomach. I didn’t remember him having that many abs in high school. It was like they were multiplying.

“That was amazing. I forgot how good that restaurant is,” he announced, and my eyes flew back up to his face. “Fortune cookie time? Pick yours out.”

There were four of them, and I took the one on the far left, Mason the one on the far right. I opened mine and read it out loud. “You will be financially comfortable soon.”

Mason opened his and said, “You will be financially comfortable soon.”

“No way,” I said, reaching for his fortune. Sure enough, it matched mine exactly. “Given that we both live at home with our parents, I think the fortune cookie industry might not be entirely accurate at predicting the near future.”

“Try again.”

I grabbed another cookie and so did he. This time my paper was completely blank.

He handed me his fortune, and it said:You will soon fall in love.

My heart froze in my chest, unable to beat.

“I suppose you’re right,” he said. “Doesn’t seem all that accurate. So I was thinking we could watch a movie, if you wanted.”

That wasn’t quite what I had in mind, but I welcomed the chance to delay the inevitable and to not think about this all-too-accurate fortune cookie. “Sure.”

We went into the living room, and I slid the fortune into my pocket. He had movie snacks waiting. “Help yourself!” he said. “I’ve got popcorn, Junior Mints, Twizzlers—”

“Gross.” I couldn’t help myself. “Twizzlers taste like cherry-flavored HDMI cables. I’m a Red Vines girl.”

Again, my reaction had been immediate, and I wasn’t sure which Sierra preferred. If she liked Twizzlers and that was why he had them. But he reached for a package of Red Vines and handed it to me.

We sat on the couch facing the large TV screen. “What movie did you want to watch?” I asked.

“I was thinking ofHis Girl Friday.”

I was about to say that it was one of my favorite screwball comedies, but Sierra hated old movies. While she might protest if I were the one making the suggestion, she would most likely go along with whatever Mason suggested, just to be polite.

“Whatever,” I said, grabbing a blanket and putting it over my legs. I opened my Red Vines as he started up the movie from a streaming service.

It was every bit as good as I remembered. At least, it was when I managed to watch it. I spent most of my time sneaking glances at him, wishing I could move closer to him, hold his hand, or rest my head against his shoulder.

When it was over, he used his remote to turn off the TV. “I love that movie,” he said, and I just nodded, knowing I couldn’t tell him I agreed.

Okay, this was it. Time to tell him. I had my hands in my lap, and I squeezed them together as I got ready.

“Mason, there’s something—”

“Wait a second,” he said. “I have something else I want to give you.”

What? But before I could ask him what he was talking about, he had jumped off the couch and gone into the kitchen.

He came back out with half of a round cake, and on top of it was a candle sliced in half.

“It’s your half birthday!” he said. “I’m not going to sing to you, because that would be a terrible gift for you, but I didn’t forget.”

He set the cake down on the table in front of me and lit the candle.

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